Controlling means for flues of heating appliances



Mach 4 1924. 1,485,463 v. D. LuDmGToN CONTROLLINQ MEANS FOR FLUES 0F HEATING APPLIANCES Filed A ri 17, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

INVENTOR- I [I 4 97, Z11

w ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

m er ica.

VARNU'M D. LUDINGTON, OF HOLLEY, NEW YORK.

CONTROLLING- MEANS FOR BLUES OF HEATING APPLIANCES.

Application filed April 17, 1922. Serial No. 553,700.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VARNUM D. LUDING- TON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Holley, in the county of Orleans and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Means for Flues of Heating Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to controlling means for flues of heating appliances and an object thereof is to provide'a controlling means which will make it possible to admit, in an efficient manner, heated air into the fire pot of the heating apparatus by way of the'flue through which the products of combustion are discharged. A further object of the invention is to provide in flue or heating appliances a check damper through 2 which air may be admitted to the fire pot or combustion chamber with means between 'said check damper or fire pot which will so disturb the products of combustion. as to cause them to heat the air pot by way of the check damper. Other objects of the invention are to provide an improved check damper and an improved flue damper together ing for these parts.

To these and other ends, consists of certain parts and combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinafter described: the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims. 7

In the drawings:

' Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of a building showing the manner in which warm and vitiated air from the building is conducted to the combustion flue of theheating appliance;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the combustion flue showing the controlling means attached thereto;

Fig. 3 is another view of the controlling means attached to the combustion flue;

Fig. 4 is a sectionon Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the connection between the check damper inlet and the flue which draws the warm and vitiated air from the building; and

ig. '6 is a view showing the manner'in 30 the invention which the damper in the combustion flue is adjusted to control such flue.

Prior to this invention it has been suggested to place an' opening ina combustion check damper,

entrance into the fire pot.

entering the fire with an improved mountner face of the wall of the line 1-4, Fig. 3; fl

flue of a heating appliance adjacent a valve or damper,'and to provide for such opening a controlling valve or damper, this opening with its valvebeing generally called the check damper. It is not generally known that,through the opening or inlet of this air will pass to the fire pot and combine with the gases in the fire pot to support combustion of said gases provided that such air is heated prior to its The difliculties with constructions heretofore on the market are that they have not been designed for the obtaining of these advantages effectively, although in some instances, a construction might with careful adjustment be controlled to obtain the advantages to a small extent. The' present invention provides a construction which may be readily controlled for the purpose of admitting air into the fire pot by way of the check damper in such a manner that the air, so admitted, may be effectively heated by the products of combustion in the chimney flue before passing .into the combustion chamber.

In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, 1 indicates a furnace which has a combustion flue 2 leading from the fire'pot thereof into a chimney 3,'this furnace also having heating flues' leadingto the rooms of the building 5 tobe heated. The combustion flue 2 is provided with an opening or inlet 6 and this openingmay, if desired, by way of aflue 7 connect with the building 5 at such a point thatthe cold and vitiated air may be removedfrom the building and lead to the combustion flue 2. Part of this air will pass to the chimney 3 by way of the combustion flue 2, while a portion will pass into the fire pot of the furnace 1. In passing into the fire-pot it hugs closely the inthe flue, whereas the products of combustion follow a course in the opposite direction at the-center of the combustion flue, these two streams not conicting to any great extent so that the outer stream passes into the combustion chamber in a cold state and, as a consequence, does not properly support the combustion of the unconsumed gases. 7

The opening 6 in the combustion flue 2 is preferably formed by a rectangular flange on a curved plate 8 which may beheld to the flue 2 in any suitable manner. In this instance, two short straps 9 are secured at one together edge of this curved plate, while two longer straps 10 are secured at the other edge of the plate, these two straps being passed about the fines 2 and adjustably connected at their ends by bolts 11, thus firmly holding the plate 8 to the flue 2. The flow of air into the flue through the opening 6 of the check damper may be controlled in any suitable manner. In this instance, a plate 12 rests on the upper edge of the rectangular flange 6 and has ears 13 projecting into the flange pivoted within the same by a rod 14. From these ears, the plate 12 has cut away portions 15 extending to one end of the opening, so that the portion of the plate 12 between the cut away portions may be swung within the opening formed by the flange 6.

In order to give the check valve 12 a normal tendency to hold its closed position the check valve shaft 14 may have an arm 16 extending therefrom and to the outer end of this arm a helical spring 17 may be connected, the outer end of this spring being anchored on an ear 18 formed on the plate. Movement of the check valve 12 to open position may be controlled through a flexible chain or connection 19 which also connects with the outer end of the arm 16 and leads upwardly to any suitable point preferably over a pulley 20 which is mounted on a sheave 21 which is secured to an car 22 on the plate 8.

With the end in view of causing the central column of consumed gases to heat the air about such central column passing backwardly to the combustion chamber, a valve is provided in the combustion flue between the check damper and the combustion chamher for causing the gases at the center of the flue to be deflected outwardly to intersect the cold air passing in the other direction. This valve, in this instance, embodies two members pivoted each on an axis extending diametrically of the flue and adapted to swing on said axis into a plane of the other member to close the flue and away from said plane to open the flue. These members, in this instance, are indicated at 23 each being in the form of a semi-circular plate having oppositely extending pintles 24: at their ad- ]acent edges journalled in the plate 8 and in one of the straps 10, the timer piping 2 having openings through which the pintles extend and the axis of turning of these plates 23 being parallel and substantially of the flue. Gears 25 are provided on the ends of the pintles 2e projecting through the plate 8, these gears meshing with each other so that the two damper members 23 may move toward and from a common plane and away from and toward each other. gears 25 has an arm 26 extending therefrom and to this arm a spring 27 is connected at 28, the other end of the sprin being secured One of theto a perforated ear or lug 29 on the plate 8 and tending normally to hold the damper in open position.

Movement of the damper toward closed position may be effected through a flexible connection 30 which is secured at 31 to the arm 26 and passes to any suitable anchoring means over a pulley 32 forming part of a sheave block 38 loosely mounted through an ear 34. on an arm 35 of the plate 8. It is apparent thatby anchoring the chain 30 in diflerent positions, the damper may be held in different positions against opening under the actionof the spring 27.

It will be noted that the damper members when in any position other than in closed posit-ion lie in diverging relation at the center of the flue in the direction opposed to the flow of the gases of combustionpassing through the flue. As. a consequence, the damper members disturb the flow of the products of combustion and deflect it outwardly toward the wall of the fiue thus tending to cause these heating products of combustion to heat the cold air which is passe to the combustion chamber through the check damper. It will be seen that by controlling the check damper and also by controlling the flue damper, any desired condition in the flue may be obtained. A com plete stoppage of the action of the flue on the fire may be effected by completely closing the flue damper and opening the check damper, while a full draft may be obtained by closing the check damper and opening the flue damper to its extreme open position. By opening the check damper and opening the flue damper, any desired checking action on the fire may be obtained. Furthermore, a control may be eflected in which unconsumed products heretofore passed out thru the flue, may be consumed in the fire pot as due to the fact that air passing through the check valve may be heated by the products of combustion passing through the flue, it is possible to consume unconsumed products heretofore escaping through the flue and in this way obtain greater efliciency fro-m the heating appliance.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a heating appliance having a combustion flue leading from the combustion chamber thereof, a check damper in said flue adapted to admit air to the flue, and a flue damper arranged between said check damper and the combustion chamber of the heating appliance and having two members operable from a single plane where the damper closes the flue, toward the flow of the products of combustion in order to displace the latter outwardly to heat the air flowing to the combustion chamber through the check damper.

2. In combination with a heating appliance having a combustion flue, a check valve in said flue adapted to admit air tothe flue and a flue damper arranged between said check valve and the combustion chamber of the heating appliance and having two members each pivoted substantially diametrically of the axis of the flue and adapted to swing on its axis into the plane of the other member to close the flue and away from said plane 10 toward the flow of the products of combustion in order to open the flue and to displace the production of combustion outwardly toward the side walls of the flue so as to heat the air passing to the combustion chamber from the check damper, and means for operating the members simultaneously toward and from each other to control the flow of air to the combustion chamber.

VARNUM D. LUDINGTON. 

